Liminality
by oshi
Summary: Yuffie Kisaragi, in an attempt to help Wutai stand once more, takes it upon herself to find some missing children following the Geostigma illness. With the situation now out of her control, what's Yuffie to do?
1. Ch 1 : In Between the Lines

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. I have this story, s'bout it.

Liminality

Chapter 1 : In Between the Lines

--

Yuffie Kisaragi was angry at herself. The world was rid of Geostigma, Sephiroth, and the influence of Jenova. Yes, the world may be one step closer to achieving peace. Praise to the Lifestream, as it's very capable of helping itself to reaching that goal. Yet, what were they doing currently? Avalanche, the Turks, and a few other select workers, were currently helping with the reconstruction of Shinra's monument that apparently was destroyed in the battle. The others thought it was a great idea, believing that Shinra was no harm, especially after they had 'assisted in saving the world,' saying that it would serve as a reminder that Shinra was no longer the old company it used to be.

Yuffie wouldn't buy that idea even if she were to receive every piece of mastered materia she could get her hands on.

Grumbling as she tossed away a piece of the rubble that was too twisted to be recognized as anything of use, she began to imagine herself in situations where she would be much more useful. Say, back in Wutai, possibly? Though, she doubted it would happen anytime soon, for she was currently digging through rubble, thanks to the votes of agreement of all those others in Avalanche.

When the question was asked of what next, after all the children had dipped themselves into the blessed waters, the suggestion of assisting with reconstruction of Edge city came into mind.

Of course, Tifa and Cloud agreed, they lived here, what else could they do? Barret agreed, he had already planned on coming here to visit Marlene anyway, and as long as his daughter's here, why would he give a damn? Cait agreed, as if his vote should've even counted as Reeve himself wasn't technically there anyway, and what could a damn toy cat do? With Cait plastered on his backside, Red agreed as well, it's not like his people couldn't live without him for a few days, anyway, they have plenty of backbone. Vincent, well, he did whatever he damn well pleased, and with nothing better to do than to help out with the construction, as it would've added to his list of sins if he left us with this tiresome chore, he agreed as well. In the end, Cid was the only one, besides Yuffie, who wanted to go home as quickly as possible, and return to his beloved Shera, but, he couldn't really just took off with the airship and left the rest of Avalanche here, so he was stuck as well.

What did Yuffie want? Yuffie wanted nothing more but to get the hell out of here, return to her people, tell them that the Geostigma threat was gone, find the missing children, watch families reunite, and while she's at it, possibly return to her previous task of attempting to bring the backbone back into her people.

But of course, Yuffie doesn't always get what Yuffie wants.

With her anger rising, she angrily tossed away a piece of rubble, regardless of direction, wishing the rubble would knock the living daylights out of any of the Turks. Rufus had a field day due to his recent recovery from Geostigma. He wasn't included in Yuffie's death threats. Though, instead of knocking a Turk unconscious, the piece of rubble and whizzed past Cloud's head. Not like it would've mattered, as his hair would've repelled the rubble right back at her.

Though, Cloud, now fully counseled and could felt like he could play the role of big brother, sensed the discontent in Yuffie, and made his way over to her. "Yuffie, is something bothering you?"

'_No, Spikes, I just love the fact that I'm tending to my past greatest enemies' MONUMENT instead of returning home to Wutai._' Came out as, with a super-glued poker face, "Not really."

"You sure?" Cloud made a gesture towards the piece of rubble that barely missed his head. "That piece of rubble didn't seem too friendly."

'_Stuff it, Mr. Know-it-all. Go back to your Boobs._' Translated to, "Accident, accident."

"Well, okay, if you say so…"

Giving up on the teen, he made his way over to Tifa, informing her of Yuffie's current situation, hoping a female touch would do more to help. Moments later, Tifa maneuvered her way past the rubble and crouched down next to Yuffie, assisting her with the over-sized pile.

Using a gentle, motherly tone, Tifa's attempt began. "So… what's wrong?"

"Nothing really." It's too bad motherly tones don't work on teenage girls with the weight of leading a city on her shoulders.

Immediately, Tifa changed her tone to a more firm one. "You're underestimating me, Yuffie. I know you know that I know you better than that."

Yuffie blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, what?" She received a dry look from the older woman.

"You're better at that kind of talk than any of us. Don't even try to play dumb." Tifa's voice was confident, sure of her victory.

"Really, I'm fine…" Yuffie knew, it was her last line of defense.

Tifa switched to motherly tone mode again. "Yuffie…"

Yuffie sighed, "I'll talk to you later."

"Good!" Tifa received the victory as easily as she believed she was going to win.

And Yuffie cursed that which gave women like Tifa motherly tones to chide teenagers such as Yuffie before even becoming a mother. She blamed the experience Tifa received from upholding a sort-of orphanage and a bar at the same time. The children who weren't happy and the grown men who cause trouble probably gave her plenty of experience. Way more than enough to deal with a 'Yuffie situation.'

Yuffie continued to mutter curses to herself as she worked her way through the pile of rubble. Her mind began to work its way back into Wutai's current situation. True, some of the children in Wutai had been infected with the Geostigma syndrome, but not nearly as much as the children here. It didn't explain why all the children in Wutai had disappeared. Only the children infected with Geostigma had disappeared here, and only because Yazoo had took them away. Neither Loz nor Yazoo were anywhere near Wutai, and she doubted that they had time to get there, either. So why had all the children in Wutai disappeared?

When she arrived here and was filled in on the situation on the airship, she believed that the children of Wutai would be here as well… only to be disappointed, as she found out that none of the children that were in the control of those three were those that lived in Wutai, and that barely any of them were even Wutainese.

Yuffie sighed as she flung some rubble around. She was back in square one. At first, she left a message on Cloud's cell phone hoping he would have some sort of idea as to what might be happening. Looking at the events that occurred merely hours ago, he obviously had his hands full dealing with the other situations here, and didn't even get to check his messages, before managing to lose his phone. Now that his ordeal has been solved, it was obvious that it didn't have anything to do her situation, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

The current situation dealt completely with only Wutai, apparently. There was no use in dragging Cloud and Tifa and the others into it, especially after all they had just finished going through. Although it might sound like the worst time to do this, she felt as if this was the exact situation she needed to return Wutai to its former glory, for her people to find the strength in them to stand up once again. Not for any worldly noticeable purposes, but merely for their own benefit, so they no longer have to look down upon themselves.

Sadly enough, though, to keep this situation in the hands of Wutai only, Yuffie has to bear through this rubble digging until everyone consents to go home. Not to mention, she needed to think of an excuse good enough to either escape the wrath or pass the expectations of Tifa Lockheart.

It was the latter which worried her more. Rubble, at least, didn't chide her.

--

After an exhausting day of sorting through rubble, the members of Avalanche, along with the Turks and Rufus, sat around Tifa's Seventh Heaven bar like old friends meeting up for their daily booze at the local bar. To Yuffie, this situation was extremely wrong. One, Avalanche and Turks are not, repeat, are not, and probably never will be, old friends. Two, daily booze was bad in the first place, but she really didn't care about that detail. Three, to more than half the people here, this bar was the furthest thing from local that ever was. But, no one else was complaining, and frankly, she didn't really care anyway.

A scent mixed of cigarettes and booze found its way to Yuffie's nose. '_Oh, the old man's speaking. Gawd, that's a bad mix.'_

"Yo. Anyone seen the #$ vamp?"

Everyone else in the room looked around briefly. Finding no sight of Vincent Valentine, the only one with enough qualifications to pass for a nickname like that, they shrugged. It didn't really matter, the life threatening situations were over, and he could handle himself. It isn't an easy task to get lost in Edge with so many directional signs everywhere, and they were all pretty sure Vincent could read. The worst thing that could happen to him is tripping over rubble.

--

And somewhere, in a different part of Edge, Vincent Valentine nearly stumbles on a piece of rubble, thus surviving the worst thing which could happen to him.

--

At this point, Yuffie decides to stop paying attention to what was happening around her. Setting her elbows on the table and her chin in her right hand, she returned within her thoughts; specifically, thoughts which dealt with her homeland. There was no doubt that what was happening in Wutai dealt with the events of Geostigma, after all, Yuffie was pretty sure that if any other life threatening events in regards to large amounts of missing children were also occurring besides Geostigma, the whole world, or at least Avalanche, would know. Yes, there was no doubt about it, the children were probably all back by the time she returned to Wutai.

Satisfied with the conclusion she came to within her mind, Yuffie started to notice her surroundings again. Vincent, apparently, was back within the bar. Looking around, she noticed everyone, save Cloud, the Turks, and Rufus, had their cell phones out. Following the masses, Yuffie took hers out as well, and inspected it. There was no doubt that she was absolutely clueless as to what was happening. Vincent seemed to catch her behavior, as it was quite obviously different from the others, and made his way towards her. And that's when she noticed.

"Eh? Hey Vince, when'd ya get a cell phone?" Yuffie snapped hers closed, using the same hand to point at the cell phone gripped in Vincent's human hand.

Vincent stopped himself a few feet away from the table, seeing as there was no more need to approach her, he replied as he returned to his original spot. "… I just bought one."

'_Oh. Ohhh… so that's what was going on.'_ Yuffie slapped herself mentally for getting too indulged in her thoughts. "Guess I wasn't paying much attention. What's the number?"

A few seconds of silence pass. Within these seconds, Yuffie could tell Vincent lost the urge to speak. So, instead, she turned to the next person she saw some form of movement from.

Tifa cleared her throat to speak. "Ah, I'll give it to you later, Yuffie." Along with that was a tiny smile. Yuffie groaned inwardly. It was no normal smile; it was a coy, playful smile. A smile which meant that Tifa knew something that was happening behind the scenes, a smile that was most likely used at the wrong time, for the wrong idea, a smile that Yuffie could completely use to her advantage.

Yuffie brainstormed for a while as the rest of the group continued doing whatever activities they were partaking in. Suddenly, the solution came to her.

'_Well, surviving a squeal fest from Tifa would be a lot easier than a scolding. This'll be perfect!'_

"Hey, brat!"

'_Gruff voice number one… Barret, is it?'_ Yuffie raised an eyebrow and looked towards the big man with the gun arm. "Yeah, what's up marshmallow?"

Apparently, the image of Barret in his sailor suit was permanently engraved in Yuffie's mind, as it had been her nickname for him since their journey, starting from Costa del Sol. She definitely had to admit, Cloud came up with a good one that he did.

Barret growled, but ignored the insult. "What's your plan?"

"S'cuse me?"

Before Barret could reply, Cloud intercepted, for better or worse. "Weren't you listening at all? We've been discussing about what each of us is going to do now for a while already. What are you going to do now?"

'_Guess I missed out on some team info. Oh well. I'll pick up stuff here and there; can probably guess where half of them are heading anyway.' _Yuffie let out a laugh. "Were ya? My bad. Pretty obvious though, I'm definitely heading home to Wutai."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. Are you going to stay a few days and help out with the reconstruction?"

'_Uh huh, I would just die at the chance of helping the reconstruction of another city rather than attending to my tourist trap of a home, Spikes.'_ Yuffie shrugged carelessly. "I'm already here. Sure, why not?"

"Great. We could use all the help we can get." Cloud seemed to be pleased with her answer. "Alright everyone, we've got a big day tomorrow. Better get some rest if we want to get any work done."

After a few grunts and mutters in agreement, one by one, the group eventually migrated to their own rooms. Except for Cloud and Tifa, who stayed after for the clean up, and Yuffie, who was still on her way up, everyone else was in their own quarters.

Tifa looked at the stairs leading up to the rooms, eyes fixated on the ninja who was slowly climbing up the stairs. "Oh, Yuffie?" She called out to her pleasantly, a tone which brought fear to the aforementioned ninja, causing her to cringe. Said ninja slowly shuffled back down the stairs, taking a seat at the bar.

With a sigh, Yuffie mentally prepared herself. Tifa let out a small giggle and motioned towards Cloud. "Need him to leave?"

Yuffie took a quick glance at the only other person in the room, which was currently cleaning tables, and rolled her eyes. "Don't think so." Tifa nodded and clapped her hands together.

"Good! Then let's get started! So, let's continue our talk earlier today." Tifa went around the counter and took a seat next to Yuffie.

'_Can't answer too swiftly, or else she'll find me out.'_ Yuffie hesitated, opening and closing her mouth a few times, and then merely gave Tifa a shrug.

"Come on, Yuffie, you can tell me anything!" Tifa gave Yuffie a small nudge. "Or do I have to guess?" At this, Cloud began wiping the tables slower, distracted by the conversation.

Yuffie shrugged again. "Be my guest."

Tifa tapped her chin a few times, giving off the appearance that she was considering something. In reality, Tifa didn't think too deeply into the matter before asking straight off. "Hm… well, does it have to do with a certain... person?"

Quickly turning her face from Tifa's eyesight, Yuffie managed to stutter out. "W-What the heck makes ya say that?" Cloud raised an eyebrow at this.

Tifa let out a tiny squeal, though not too loud as to disturb the others upstairs. "I knew it! It's Vincent, isn't it?" Yuffie could just picture Tifa in 30 years. She'll be the perfect gossiping mother type. Slowly turning her head back to face Tifa, Yuffie gaped at Tifa.

Yuffie squeaked out a reply. "How…?" Inside her mind, Yuffie could swear she saw the mental image of herself spewing chunks. Oblivious to the fact that Yuffie turned away because she WASN'T blushing at a time she was supposed to be, Tifa continued her squeal barrage.

"Aw… there's no reason to hide it!" Tifa, who probably figured that being squealed at is the last thing a person who just admitted their deepest, darkest secrets needs, calmed herself. "Wow, Yuffie… I had no idea until today."

At the tables, Cloud nodded in silent agreement with Tifa. Yuffie shrugged. "Well, it's no big deal. It's just a crush that's been on my mind lately. Don't tell, 'kay? You too, Spikes."

The two nodded their heads in reply. Yuffie set her elbows on the counter, and again, her chin on her palms, still keeping an eye on Tifa. "So how'd ya know?"

"You were so out of it after you realized Vincent was gone today, and then you were having trouble speaking to him, I just had to notice." Tifa's eyes seemed to be glistening with pride at her observations.

'_Oh Tifa, you're so naïve. But, I guess that's what so great about you.'_ Yuffie yawned, and stood up to leave. "Man, I'm beat. I'm heading to bed Tifa. G'night!" With that said, Yuffie headed up the stairs.

'_Yeah, the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi passes with flying colors! Totally safe! Sorry for using ya, Vince, but it had to be done!'_

--

Unbeknownst to the three still in the bar, up the stairs was said red-eyed subject, who was just innocently on his way to help clean up the bar, who, coincidentally, happened to hear the whole conversation. Needless to say, the man was in an awkward position, or, he felt that way. In reality, there was no position to really be in. Vincent stood at the top of the stairs, pondering what one was to do in this type of situation.

It wasn't the first time this type of situation had happened to Vincent that was for sure. But, it was easy with other females, as he didn't personally know them, nor has he ever interacted with them. Hence, dealing with their infatuation was as simple as just straight out ignoring them. Yet, this time…

Yuffie was a comrade to him, indefinitely, as is the rest of Avalanche. Vincent couldn't simply just ignore her, and he definitely couldn't just go along with her infatuation. Vincent now had to figure out a way to deal with this situation, in a matter that wouldn't destroy his current position as a comrade, and to make sure that Yuffie doesn't end up hating him, instead. Vincent was not fond of the idea of being at the end of Yuffie's oversized shurikens.

Vincent snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed the small hand waving frantically in front of his face. Looking down, he noticed the object of his troubles. "Yuffie."

After finally hearing a reply from him, she lowered her hand. "Hey Vince. You're still up? Crazy." She covered up a yawn. "I guess that makes sense. You slept in that coffin for who knows how long."

Vincent made no reply, and merely stared down at her. _'She seems to be acting normally. Does she not realize that I have heard the whole conversation?'_

The two of them stood there in that position for a while. When Yuffie still received no reply from Vincent, she shrugged and turned to leave. "Well, I'm beat. Night, Vince!"

"Good night, Yuffie." Vincent watched as she headed into her room, closing the door behind her and locking it. _'Perhaps, as she is acting like nothing has happened, I should also do the same.'_

With that thought in mind, Vincent returned to his own room.

--

Within the vicinity of her own room, Yuffie collapsed onto her bed, absolutely ready to pass out for the night. The situation that just happened obviously hadn't registered in her mind quite yet. For Yuffie, she had just escaped the wrath of Tifa's motherly care without so much as a scratch, and so she was currently in bliss. She began to work her way out of her boots, leaving them at the foot of the bed. Taking off her jacket and flinging it somewhere across the room, she settled herself on the bed, adjusting herself to a comfortable position.

Minutes later, she shot up into a sitting position as quickly as it had taken her earlier to collapse on the bed.

'_Oh boy, oh boy… this can't be good.'_

Yuffie flopped back down on the bed again, this time, face down into the pillow. Needless to say, Yuffie knew that the probability of Vincent having heard her well sewn out lie was above ninety-percent. With a load groan, she flipped herself to look up at the ceiling. Slapping the back of her hand onto her forehead, she began to think of possible methods to rectify the situation.

After drumming her brain for possible solutions for a few minutes, again, she suddenly sits up.

'_Wait a minute… why the hell am I wasting time thinking about this? I bet Vince isn't even going to do anything. There's probably nothing to worry about. Just gotta ignore it and let time pass it down. Yep, sounds good!'_

Yuffie falls back on the bed, drifting to sleep this time around. Her last thoughts before losing consciousness probably ensured that she would have plenty of nightmares tonight.

'_Damn… I hope this doesn't come around and bite me in the ass later…'_

--

Hello everyone! First of all, I'd like to say thank you very much for taking the time to read this. And another thanks for a review! I'd appreciate a lot of constructive criticism, as I am not an experienced writer. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and support from the readers would be of great help to me! Thanks again!


	2. Ch 2 : Farewell formed Bonds

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. I have this story, s'bout it.

Liminality

Chapter 2: Farewell-formed Bonds

--

The days of reconstruction went as quickly as they came. Before the group knew it, all the major sites which needed the most helping hands in became enough for the citizens themselves to handle on their own. So, it was finally time for the group to return to their own individual lives. Much to Yuffie's delight, these few days passed smoothly, and she had pretty much forgotten all about the events from a few days ago. Now, she was just eager to go home and see the children happily returned and reunited with their families.

Cloud and Tifa will, obviously, be staying at Edge. Tifa will continue to run her bar, as many of the townspeople had already claimed that Tifa's Seventh Heaven was one of the few things that kept them going. Cloud will continue his delivery service in Edge, sure that the amount of customers will probably shoot up due to the amount of time the people will need to spend on reconstruction. Marlene will continue to act as the bar's waitress. Denzel, now cured of his Geostigma, was now willing to do anything offered to him.

Barret decided to stay a few more days in Edge so that he could spend more time with Marlene. Doing so also helped Cloud start up his delivery service again, as he would definitely be extremely busy during the first few days of his starting over. Though, Tifa worried greatly over the influence Barret might have over Denzel. There was no need to worry about Marlene, as she had long been used to having a deaf ear whenever her 'Papa' used some certain 'bad' language.

Nanaki will return to Cosmo Canyon, his rightful place to be, where he will continue to watch over the canyon his ancestors and parents worked so hard to protect. Reeve, having never left the World Restoration Organization HQ in the first place, left Cait turned off at Seventh Heaven, and returned to his work, looking after the planet and preventing any further damage to it.

Vincent, much to everyone's surprise, did not mention anything about returning to Nibelheim and the Shinra mansion. Cloud had even thought of exactly what to say to Vincent the moment he mentioned it. Rather, instead, Vincent said he will be traveling around the world. The group, not accustomed to the fact that Vincent had gotten a cell phone, protested as they thought they would end up losing communication with him in that matter. That is, until Vincent mentioned his possession of a phone. With a sigh of relief, the group accepted his decision and wholly supported it. A few days later after the announcement, after he felt there was no more need for him to assist with the reconstruction, Vincent left.

Cid, of course, will head home to Rocket Town as soon as he finishes dropping off those that required dropping off, and will probably continue to slave away at his airship, sipping Shera's tea as he worked.

Of course, all this was unbeknownst to Yuffie, save for Cid, because that was a given. It was no surprise, as when the group discussed the matter a few days ago, Yuffie had paid absolutely no attention whatsoever.

Yuffie looked down from the deck of the Sierra, waving her hands in the air, shouting 'goodbye's to the Seventh Heaven family of misfits. Nanaki made his way next to her, putting his front paws on the railing to get a better look at his comrades.

"Cid says goodbye, and best of '&#!' luck to you all!" Nanaki shouted down, earning quite a stunned reaction from Yuffie, as well as the others down below, as they had all suddenly stopped waving.

First to recover was Yuffie. "Man, I know you were quoting Cid and all, but… that's just so odd." Nanaki gave her his version of a shrug, and the two continued to say their goodbyes as the Sierra slowly lifted from the ground. Down below, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Marlene, and Denzel moved away from the large airship to keep from being blown away. Together, they watched until the Sierra lift itself and fly off until the airship was out of sight.

"I'm going to miss having them around…" With a sigh, Tifa looked down dejectedly. Next to her, Marlene nodded silently in agreement. Barret gave her a light nudge.

"Hey, don't you be worryin' 'bout nothin', at least this time, we said we'd all meet up at least once a month." If anything, Barret disliked seeing a sad face on Tifa. He'd always known her as a vibrant girl, and the best role model Marlene could ever have.

Tifa looked up, facing the two men. Cloud nodded to her in reassurance. She turned to Barret. "Thanks Barret. You're right. It'll be different this time." Tifa smiled.

"Yea, Tifa, now all ya gotta do is jes' live." At this, Cloud looked at Barret.

It was a simple statement, but it spoke the truth, the very simple truth. All they had to do now is keep living.

--

"Oi! Cosmo Canyon's comin' up!" Cid called to Nanaki from the Captain's seat. "How ya wanna get down?"

Nanaki looked out from the windshield of the bridge. "My options?"

"Can't just pick a #! way yourself?" Cid grumbled as he lit up a cigarette. "I can bring up the Sierra close to your village, then you can $#& jump off yourself. We got parachutes. Either that, or I'll land the airship in a field nearby, then you can walk the rest the way or whatever &$# you want."

Nanaki grimaced, clearly remembering the last two encounters he had with the horrible parachutes. First was parachuting into Midgar. At least back then, the other Avalanche members helped untangle him from the burning parachute before his fur became crisp. Second was parachuting into Edge. That time, Cait had helped him. Nanaki had high doubts he would be able to escape from a parachute a third time, especially when he'd be dropping alone.

"I'll take the second option." Yuffie, who clearly remembered both incidents, snickered, successfully earning a look from Nanaki.

"Alright then, landing it $# is!" Yuffie's eyes widened in horror, and braced herself for the rocking and shaking of the ship. Cid took notice of Yuffie's sudden change.

"If you blow chunks over my bridge, brat, you'll $#& regret it!"

Yuffie glared at him. "Shut it, old man! Maybe if you piloted better I wouldn't feel so sick!"

"Brat, what'd you $#& say about my piloting?" Angered, Cid's attention was no longer on the landing. The ship began to shake and rock even more.

"Oh my gawd, just land this hunk of metal already!"

Needless to say, the ship had an extremely rough landing. Nonetheless, the ship did land. Out on the deck, Cid flung out the rope ladder for Nanaki to climb down with.

"I'll be seeing ya later, Red. Take care of yourself."

Nanaki smiled. "I will. You take care, as well."

"Don't you go burnin' the $&# ladder on the way down."

"I'll do my best not to." Nanaki could still remember the first and only time that happened. Apparently, Cid still remembered as well.

Yuffie rushed out onto the deck. "Red, I'll miss you!"

Nanaki couldn't help but chuckle at Yuffie. "You know I wouldn't have left before saying goodbye to you first, Yuffie. You didn't have to rush. Are you feeling better now?"

Yuffie took a few breaths. "Ya, much better. Hey old man, you might wanna clean up your ship later, before it dries there." Cid looked like he was about to explode at that. "Kidding, kidding!"

"Alright, I'm going now. I'll see you both again." Red turned to make his way down the ladder.

"Wait!" Yuffie ran forward and kneeled, wrapping her arms around his neck in an awkwardly positioned hug. "I'll miss you!"

Nanaki nuzzled the back of Yuffie's head. "And I will miss you, Yuffie."

Satisfied, Yuffie released him and jumped back a few steps. Waving goodbye, she smiled, ignoring the sick feeling she had at the pit of her stomach that was there. Yuffie blamed it on motion sickness, despite how the ship was not moving. With one last look, Nanaki began making his way down the ladder. Cid joined Yuffie in waving goodbye, and the two of them watched Nanaki until he was just a tiny red speck across a grassy green field.

"Next stop, Wutai!" Cid called out as he headed back into the bridge. Shortly after, Yuffie followed suit.

At the bridge, Cid silently piloted the airship, while Yuffie stared at the view from the bridge, watching everything pass by below. To Cid, this was a fairly new experience, as he was rarely ever alone with her, and rarely was she ever this quiet. Her behavior earlier when Nanaki was leaving was, strangely, also on his mind.

"Yo, brat." Cid paused to make sure he had Yuffie's attention. When she looked at him, he continued. "What's up with you?"

Yuffie turned herself around to face him completely. "What ya mean by that?"

"Yer actin' weird." Yuffie looked at Cid like he was insane. "What? You were actin' all weird when Red left. Now yer all quiet."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "What, I can't give him a hug goodbye?"

'_Okay, maybe that wasn't that weird. But still…'_ Cid grumbled. "Yeah, yeah, that's fine an' all, but now yer standin' there not saying anythin'." Putting her hands at her waist, Yuffie put on an insulted look.

"What, I can't think now?"

"No."

"What the… why not! And you answered so quickly too. What's that supposed to mean!"

Cid shrugged. "Just makin' sure yer alright."

At Cid's serious tone, Yuffie took on a serious face. "Well… thanks. I'm okay, Cid. Just…" Yuffie sighed and scratched her head. "I'm not really sure why. I have this funny feeling… like I'm not going to see any of you anymore, or at least, for a very long time."

'_This brat…_' Cid gave her a strange look. "Weren't you $&# listening when we all decided to meet at least once every month?" Obviously, Yuffie doesn't pay much attention.

Yuffie scratched her head again, laughing. "I guess I must've missed that."

"Tch, well, does knowin' that make things different now?" Cid paused, before adding, "And don't #&$ lie about it."

Putting a finger to her chin, Yuffie paused to think. She blinked a few times. "Actually… Not really, the feeling's still there."

"That just proves it then." Cid's face looked proud, like as if he just answered a million Gil question.

Yuffie looked confused. "What?"

"Don't think too much into it." At the way Cid spoke, to Yuffie, it sounded like a consolation. That is, until Cid spoke again. "So I was right, you shouldn't, and probably can't, think."

'_That… stupid, dirty, old man!'_ Yuffie crossed her arms and glared. "And here I was thinkin' of how I should thank you, you stupid old man."

Cid let out a loud laugh. "You didn't have to thank me, but yer welcome." Yuffie looked about ready to pound him in. "Don't you be gettin' any $&# ideas. I got a Venus Gospel, an' I won't think twice about spankin' yer $&# skinny ass with it."

In reply, Yuffie turned around and shook the subject at hand, her skinny ass, at Cid. Cid, at this point, had an extremely powerful urge to actually continue through with his threat, but decided against it. _'I'll get the brat the next time I #$& see her.'_

"Hey brat, Wutai's close." At this, Yuffie looked outside eagerly, jumping up and down a few times. Stopping herself before she gets the urge to blow chunks at the Sierra's nice, clean, nicotine-smelling bridge, Yuffie stared at the hometown which she longed to return to.

"I'm gonna land the Sierra right outside Wutai."

Yuffie nodded, but didn't say anything. From the bridge, she watched as her hometown came closer and closer to view. Sure, her Wutai wasn't exactly the way she would've liked it to be, but no matter what, it was her town. Seeing her town, as it became closer and closer, she couldn't help but notice the awkward feeling in the pit of her stomach increase in intensity. Yuffie waved it off; perhaps it was just motion sickness, as the airship was beginning its descent.

She turned to Cid and motioned to the direction of the deck. Cid gave her a nod, and Yuffie made her way to the deck.

Yuffie braced herself for the large blast of wind that was coming to her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to the deck and stepped outside. Imagine her surprise as she felt a nice breeze whipping around her rather than gusts of wind which would've threatened to blow her thin body off the deck. Yuffie gathered it was probably the descent that the airship was currently undergoing that made the airship much slower. That or the pilot was actually worried and slowed the ship down so she wouldn't get blown off the deck.

'_Yeah, right, like that'll really happen.'_ Yuffie laughed to herself for even having the thought. Either way, she stepped out further towards the railing. Her hands gripped the railing tightly as if her life depended on it, whether it was in fear of a sudden speed change, or the nervousness of returning home once more. She could see Wutai completely now.

Eagerly, her eyes scanned the entrance of her town. When she saw two figures standing at the sides of the gates, a wave of relief washed over her. If the guards were still there, things should still be under control, or back to normal. Godo, no matter how idiotic his decision was to make Wutai into the way it is now, wasn't stupid enough to not tell the guards to do something if the situation worsened. At least, he wasn't that stupid the last time Yuffie checked.

Moments later, the airship had landed outside Wutai and Cid had stepped out onto the deck. Yuffie had noticed the two guards that were at the front gates had ran to the Sierra and stood at the rope ladder before she turned to Cid.

"Well kid, I'll see ya around." Cid's voice was low, a lot different than the usual tone he takes when usually speaking to Yuffie. Yuffie seemed to notice.

'_Ha, he must be missing me already! Of course, I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! Who wouldn't miss me?' _Yuffie smirked inwardly. "Hm… what's wrong with you?" Despite her thoughts, she doubted that was the reason for the way Cid's acting, and so she asked, sincerely.

Cid waved her off. "Nothin'. Get outta here, brat, before I $&# kick you off the airship myself."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. _'Stupid old man…'_ She ran to Cid and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Surprisingly, Cid hugged her back.

"Kid… I'll see ya next month, alright? I'm personally gonna come pick you up. Better make sure yer $&# ready." Cid hugged her just a bit tighter. Being this close, he could faintly distinguish a unique smell. _'Jasmine…?'_

"Yeah, Cid, next month, I'll be back to bug the crap outta you." Yuffie smirked, and breathed in the strong smell of nicotine which practically emitted from Cid.

The two of them released each other. Cid gave her a quick, but genuine smile. Yuffie grinned and waved. Then, Yuffie broke the tender father-daughter-like moment between the two by sticking her tongue out at him and then back flipping off the deck onto the ground below.

Grumbling, Cid shouted from the deck to the ground below. "You $&# brat! The next time I see you, I $&# swear I'm gonna give ya such a noogie so hard you'll be $# beggin' me to stop!"

Cid could hear a faint reply. "Yeah, I'd like to see ya try, old man!" He smirked and watched the ground below until Yuffie was out of sight within Wutai.

Cid's smirk faded into a frown as he noticed the feeling that he'd been pushing down having increased now that Yuffie was gone. As he headed back into the Sierra, he couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps it was due to Yuffie's influence, from what she had said earlier, that made him start having this feeling.

'_Why does it $#& seem like I won't ever see the kid again?'_

--

Yuffie stood behind the gates of Wutai, watching the Sierra take off until it was far out of sight. Ignoring the growing feeling of sadness inside her, Yuffie turned to the two guards, both face and tone serious. "The children are back now, right?"

The two guards faced each other, and then faced their princess, the look of dread apparent on their faces. One of the guards replied. "No… Lady Kisaragi. They are not."

At that point, Yuffie felt a sudden weight fell upon her, and she found it hard to move her body. "None of them are?" Slowly, both the guards shook their heads, both in shame and in sadness.

The other guard spoke. "All of the children in Wutai are missing now, Lady Kisaragi."

Yuffie became absolutely paralyzed. _'…All of them?'_

The guard continued on. "As you know, Lady Kisaragi… Wutai isn't exactly in its best state." He paused to wait for any reaction.

'_I know that all TOO well…' _Yuffie could only nod for him to continue.

"We do not have enough men to send off to search for the children, to protect Wutai, and to protect Lord Godo efficiently." If the guard's grave voice could bring about the plague, plague would've spread throughout the whole world.

The statement struck Yuffie as odd. Having finally found her voice, she spoke. "What do you mean? Shin-Ra is already gone! I'm sure it's alright to send off some men from our defense to search for the children."

"Actually…" The first guard that spoke began. Yuffie immediately turned to him, her eyes sharp and demanding. "Actually… the men that we have sent haven't come back yet… and… Lord Godo…"

Yuffie felt that her whole world around her had just begun to spin in the wrong direction. Unfortunately for Yuffie, this was just the start of everything, and the time she had just spent on the Sierra and the smell of nicotine would become her only comforting memory for a very long time.

--

Deep within the planet, inside the large stream of consciousnesses known as the Lifestream, a single person's consciousness began to separate from the masses, and slowly began to take form. First was the physical body, and then it was her long, chestnut brown hair, her pink dress, her red jacket, and finally, the bow wrapped around her hair which held it up.

After waiting for her consciousness to become more solid, the flower girl known as Aeris stretched her awakened consciousness by physically stretching herself. Although it had made no difference in this world, as her senses were altered and distorted into different uses here. Having been awakened once before already for the events of Geostigma, she wasn't as surprised as she was the first time.

What surprised her was, although the movement of time within the Lifestream was different than that from the living world, she was positive that Geostigma was still considered a very recent event, so why did the planet allow form to her consciousness again? Unless… there was still something the planet needed for her to do.

All of a sudden, she felt an abundance of consciousnesses enter the Lifestream. She watched as each of them entered with their forms still intact, and then slowly disintegrating to become a part of the large stream of consciousnesses. She could tell that their memories of the surface were being added to collection of memories that was the Lifestream. Focusing mainly on the memories of those that had just suddenly arrived; she found that most of them were filled with a place familiar to her, that she had once visited.

She remembered a nice town that she had once visited along her travels with Avalanche, a place known as Wutai. Aeris remembered that their reason for going there wasn't for fun, despite how the town had many tourist attractions; it was to retrieve their lost possessions from Yuffie, her comrade from before in the living world, who had stolen their materia. She remembered the reason that Yuffie had stolen their materia, to restore her Wutai to its former glory.

Then it made sense to her, why some of the memories of Wutai from these consciousnesses were so different from what she had seen. They were memories of Wutai before Shin-Ra had affected it. Aeris smiled at how nice these memories of the old Wutai were. Yuffie was sure born in a great city. Then she frowned, realizing how tough it must be for Yuffie that her beloved city was in the state that it is now.

As if reacting to the emotions she imagined her friend Yuffie was feeling, she felt the consciousnesses of those from Wutai which had just entered the Lifestream. Although they didn't take any form, she could feel the strong feelings that they had towards their country, their hometown, and the strong sadness that they felt for having their homeland the way it is now.

Aeris then paused, noticing how short the memories of some of these consciousnesses were. In sadness, she realized that these consciousnesses were children. She was angered, saddened, and curious. Angered at whatever had caused the deaths of so many children. Saddened that so many deaths occurred even after the horrible events the whole world had just finished suffering through. Curious as to who it was that had done such a horrible deed.

Suddenly, a consciousness began to take form in front of Aeris. Aeris noticed that it was a female, a beautiful one, at that, dressed in a traditional Wutai garb. She could tell by how long it was taking for her consciousness to form, that this female had been dead for a really, really long time, as the bits and pieces of her consciousness were so hard to find and even harder to piece together. Finally, the woman's consciousness solidified, although still lacking in density as compared to Aeris.

"Miss… did you… did you know Yuffie? My little… well, probably not so little anymore… Did you know my daughter?"

--

Greetings again, in this second chapter! Again, I'd like to thank you very much for taking the time to read this story. Again, also thanks for a review. I appreciate your opinions!

To the reviewers:

**Gining**: Thank you very much, my first reviewer! I'm glad you like it, and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy this story as it progresses.

**GirlEnigma**: Thank you for the review! Here is another update; I do hope it's soon enough for you!

**Maddy02**: Yes, indeed this will eventually become a Yuffentine. I'm glad that I'm doing a good job! I will do my best to keep going as I am. Thank you for the review!

**Chaotic Rei**: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you liked it! I'm glad that the length was alright, I was scared it might've been too short or too long!

**saharasfury**: Yes, I also wonder how they'll sort this lie out once it comes back to bite them in the butt later! Or, you know, rather than sorting it out, it could be 'a white lie comes true' situation. Just 'maybe'… Anyway, thank you for the review!

**ignoredflower**: Thank you for the review, as well as the compliment, lol. I hope you'll continue to enjoy my inexperience in the future!

I'd also like to note that I've read the short stories that have relations to Final Fantasy VII: On The Way to a Smile, The Maiden who Walks the Planet, and also the game script for the cell phone game Before Crisis, so much of the content of this story has and will be based from what those stories have told me, such as the interpretation of the Lifestream, which is based on the explanations of 'The Maiden who Walks the Planet'. There will also be assumptions within this fanfic later on based on what information is currently given about Dirge of Cerberus.

I would have posted a link to note which website I had received this information from, but I wasn't sure if it would be considered advertising or not, and I wasn't too sure if advertising a website would violate the rules, so on the safe side, I didn't put the website here. If you would like to know it, please let me know and I will privately reply to you the website address.

Many thanks again!


	3. Ch 3 : Blood Heritage

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. I have this story, s'bout it.

Liminality

Chapter 3: Blood Heritage

--

"Yes, Mrs. Kisaragi, I knew your daughter."

The Wutainese mother broke out into a wide grin that reminded Aeris of a certain mischievous teenage ninja. "Really? Tell me, how is she? Has she grown into a beautiful woman? Does she get along with that idiot of a father she has? How did you meet her?"

'_Wow… she really is, no doubt, Yuffie's mother.'_ Aeris smiled at the woman's excitement. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about her, Mrs. Kisaragi."

The two of them sat down together within the swirling mass of consciousnesses, as if they were meeting up for an afternoon tea session. "Mrs. Kisaragi, the last time I saw Yuffie, she was 16 years old. She should be 18 years old now."

Mrs. Kisaragi nodded eagerly, but paused, realizing that she has yet to introduce herself. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Umeko; please refer to me as that from now on."

Aeris smiled and nodded. "Okay, Umeko. My name is Aeris."

"Aeris… you have a very nice name. Your mother must have wished the best for you when she named you." Umeko smiled gently, making Aeris wonder if Yuffie would also grow up to be this way. If she would, Aeris would be so happy for her.

"Then you, also, must have wished the best for Yuffie when you named her, right Umeko?"

"Yuffie's name…" Umeko paused, as if hesitating. Shaking her head, she looked at Aeris. "Please continue, Aeris."

Aeris smiled and nodded, though she could tell something was wrong. She wouldn't ask about it if it was something Umeko would rather not mention. Aeris told Umeko everything, from how they met Yuffie, to their ordeal in Wutai, to how Yuffie has assisted in saving the world from the wrath of Sephiroth, and then later assisted in the defeat of Bahamut SIN during the events of Geostigma.

When Aeris was done, Umeko looked as if she was about to explode with pride. Yet, in a flash, the prideful look upon Umeko's face faltered, as she spoke out with an apologetic tone, "I apologize for the trouble she's caused you. It must've been tough when she took your materia. I hope everyone had forgiven her?"

Aeris shook her head. "It wasn't that much trouble. We all knew why she stole the materia, so we all forgave her after she returned it to us."

Umeko's face lit up with curiosity. "That reminds me… why DID she take your materia?"

Aeris frowned. _'That's right… Umeko doesn't know about what happened to Wutai.'_

With her face now filled with worry, Umeko grabbed Aeris's hand in urgency. "What? What happened to Wutai? I remember, before I died, we were in a war. What happened to Wutai?"

Aeris sighed, scolding herself for forgetting to watch her own thoughts within the Lifestream. "Umeko, Wutai isn't like before anymore. It's more of a… tourist resort now."

"A tourist resort?" Umeko looked confused for a second, before her face contorted into anger. "What did that idiot Godo do? Don't tell me that idiot actually did what Shin-Ra had asked him to do!"

Aeris attempted to calm her down, but to no avail. Suddenly, Umeko's anger disappeared as quickly as it came. With a sigh, Aeris replied. "I'm not sure exactly what Shin-Ra had asked Wutai to do, Umeko, but the reason why Yuffie stole the materia was because she believed that materia would help Wutai return to the way it was."

When Aeris received no reaction, she tried calling her, "Umeko?" Umeko suddenly looked up at Aeris, as if she had just jerked out of her thoughts. Apparently, Yuffie's mother was just as bad as paying attention to people just as Yuffie is now.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you say? Yuffie stole the materia to help Wutai?" Aeris nodded in reply. At least, her mother wasn't as bad as Yuffie was when it came to splitting her attention. Umeko sighed, "That silly girl…"

"What do you mean by that?"

Umeko shook her head. "What Wutai needs isn't materia. What our country needs is a Kisaragi to lead it. That's all it'll take to bring Wutai to glory once again."

"Isn't Godo a Kisaragi?"

Umeko blinked a few times, her face looking surprised. "You guys didn't know? The Kisaragi line has always been continued on by females. Never once in our country's history did any Kisaragi bare a male child. All males so far have been married into the family name. Yuffie never mentioned it?"

"No, Yuffie never mentioned a thing."

"That's interesting. All of the females in the Kisaragi line learn of this when they turn eighteen after they've undergone and passed the trials of the Five Gods of the Pagoda. Yuffie's eighteen now, and you mentioned earlier she already passed the trials of the Five Gods, right?"

"Yes, but… Umeko, Yuffie finished the trials when she was sixteen. So maybe, Godo didn't tell her yet. She probably only recently turned eighteen."

Umeko suddenly stood up, flailing her arms around as she spoke. "She went through the trials when she was sixteen? You didn't tell me that!"

Aeris blinked. "Um… was that important?"

Umeko stopped flailing and looked at Aeris. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Right, right, of course. None of you guys knew any of this. Sorry for that outburst."

"It's alright, I understand. So… what's wrong with her taking the trials at sixteen? I mean, it's alright as long as she passes, right?"

With a sigh, Umeko sat back down.

"Actually…"

--

"He's in a coma? What do you mean by 'in a coma'?"

Yuffie grabbed the guard that had spoken to her by the armor, shaking him roughly.

"L-Lady!" The guard found it terribly hard to speak any further under the circumstances. Yuffie seemed to notice this, and let go of the guard.

Crossing her arms, she glared at him accusingly. "What happened?"

While the other guard attempted to recover his lost air and calm his shaken head, the guard next to him explained. "We really don't know, Lady. One day, we sent off some men to search for the children. We waited for news from them for three days, but they've yet to return. Each day, we continued to send a new group to search for the old, but none of them have returned thus far."

"So… this has something to do with the coma… how?" Yuffie put her hands at her waist and began tapping her foot, patience running thin.

"We HAVE been taking men from the defense, Lady Kisaragi. The remaining guards suspect that it must have been an assault from an unknown enemy, taking advantage of our lack of soldiers."

Yuffie stuck a hand out to stop him. "Wait. What about the other four Gods of the Pagoda? Wouldn't they have protected Godo?"

The guards winced at the mention of the four Gods. "Lady Kisaragi… Staniv is… the only one out of the four Gods still here." Yuffie was about to explode. The guard quickly continued, "A-After the first group we sent out never came back, Gorky, Shake, and Chekhov led the groups that went out to search for them."

Yuffie's fists clenched tightly together. _'Okay, gotta keep my cool here… Godo can't do anything. Most of the Gods have gone missing. I'm a Kisaragi, I can do this. Mom would've been able to.'_ Yuffie cleared her throat, and began to speak in a clear and commanding voice. "How many men are left?"

The two guards immediately stood straight. The previously strangled one replied, "Right now, there is only Staniv and a few guards left over that are protecting the city. The rest of them are all men that haven't gone through proper training yet, but are doing their best."

Yuffie tapped her chin in thought. _'Wait a second…'_ Yuffie stomped a foot into the ground. "Gather all the men and women who can fight in the city's center. Don't bother alerting Staniv; let him keep watch at Godo in case anyone decides to attack, I'll speak to him myself later. One of you, keep watch here at the gate, the other, go do what I said."

The two guards bowed and split to do their individual tasks. Once they were out of sight, Yuffie's shoulders immediately slumped and she let out a loud groan.

"Gawd, this is so annoying!"

With that, she stomped her way over to Wutai's center to wait for her people to gather.

--

"Yo, partner. Take a look at this!"

A bodily built bald man made his way over to the source of the call. Once arriving on the scene, he whistled at the sight. "That's pretty bad…"

"I know, man. Who in the world would do this, 'specially to a whole buncha children. It's sick." The redhead knelt down to examine the bodies closer, although he found the action pointless even to himself, as anyone could see from first glance that the bodies were too mutilated to even examine.

"Are they kids from Edge?"

"Man, I don't think there's any way to tell. The bodies are too screwed up. I see whip marks, slash marks, burnt marks, even signs of frostbite, all mixed together, stacked over, one by one."

"Materia."

"It's not the only thing, man…"

Another voice called from behind the trees and bushes. "Rude? Reno? What's going on with you two?"

Reno looked at Rude, who shook his head quickly. He shouted towards the direction of her voice. "Elena! Don't come over here. Go tell Tseng we found somethin'!"

Elena stepped out from behind the trees. "And just why not? What the hell are you guys-…? Oh my… god…" Elena cupped her mouth with her hands, resisting the urge to throw up at the sight.

"I warned ya."

Elena shook her head in disbelief. "I'll… I'll go get Tseng." Her voice was terribly shaken as she began to walk away.

"Yo, Rude, you better go with her, man." Reno gestured to the bodies before him. "I'll stay here; see if I can find anything. Just make sure 'Lena doesn't lose it."

Rude nodded and went after the blonde Turk. Reno was having a hard time doing anything besides staring at the corpses.

--

"After passing the trials of the Five Gods of the Pagoda, the survivor is bestowed the ability to use All Creation. It's like a rite of passage gift. The age sixteen is still too young to use the ability All Creation, because along with gaining All Creation, Yuffie should also have been told some secrets passed down generation through generation." Umeko glanced at Aeris. "But, from what you've told me. Yuffie doesn't seem to know a thing about any family secrets!"

Aeris tapped her forehead gently. "But it's okay… as long as Yuffie can still pull off the attack, right?"

Umeko's head shot up. "Attack?"

"Yes… All Creation is an attack, isn't it? She's used it plenty of times already."

Umeko shook her head and began pacing back and forth. "No… no, no, no… that's all wrong. All Creation… I mean, Aeris, just think about the name itself!"

Aeris blinked a few times. "You know… that's… true. Why would an attack that can kill be named All Creation?" Aeris couldn't believe the amount of time it took for her to realize something was wrong with the name. She highly doubted the others noticed, either.

"What happened whenever she used it?"

Aeris tapped her forehead again, trying to recall the moments when she's seen Yuffie perform the attack. "I remember… Yuffie seems to go into deep concentration, and then a huge ball of energy just appears and razes through the enemies. Then she gets really, really tired afterwards."

"I see." Umeko tapped her chin in thought, an action similar to her daughter's. "Well, hm… have you seen her perform something called Clear Tranquil?"

Aeris nodded, clearly remembering that useful skill. "With it, she helped us out in a lot of jams. I could never figure out how she did it, though."

"Clear Tranquil is a skill that all Kisaragi's must have. It's the skill they use until they can properly process the energy required for All Creation. Because Yuffie has not properly learned what is required to execute All Creation correctly, all she ends up doing is releasing a whole bunch of energy." Umeko paused and sighed. "It's very dangerous to her body if she continues to use it that way. Hopefully, having turned eighteen, she'll start to use it properly."

"Then… what'll happen when she uses it properly?"

--

Yuffie stood at the center square of Wutai, her eyes closed as she mentally prepared herself. The people of Wutai quietly waited to hear what their Lady had to say. Yuffie was glad that her people were not putting any unnecessary pressure on her as she prepared to speak.

Yuffie took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Actually…" Once she started, all eyes had turned to her. "I don't have that much to say. I just thought of this when I got back and heard the situation. This whole time, we have been moving in groups." She took another deep breath. "We are trained, or currently within training, to be ninja. We practice stealth. None of us have been specially trained to fight within groups."

Yuffie paused and took a look around before she continued. "Yet, groups and groups of our people have been sent out. In groups, our capabilities become limited. Stealth becomes harder with a large group, we are highly noticeable. I believe this is why so many of us have gone missing."

Seeing the people each slowly nodding in agreement, Yuffie beamed. "And hence, I would like the remaining of you to stay in Wutai. Every one of you will work as partners, each set of partners positioning themselves in a certain part of Wutai. As to where, I'll leave that to the guards. I will go by myself and scout the areas nearby for any signs of our missing family."

At this announcement, the people began to protest. Yuffie immediately silenced them. "I say this again. We are ninja. We must separate and work individually where others cannot. That is our strong point, and we will use it to our advantage."

The people reluctantly, though surely, saw their Lady's point and nodded in acknowledgement. Yuffie continued. "No matter the circumstance, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT come searching for me. Everyone MUST be able to watch out for themselves. Everyone, including myself, must be able to. Failure to do so means failure as a ninja. I would rather die than fail what I have been raised my whole life to be."

The citizens of Wutai nodded gravely. Finally, Yuffie concluded her speech.

"Everyone, I leave the safety of Wutai in your hands. Please don't let me down. Remember, this is Wutai's problem, and it is its people who will solve it."

Flashing her trademark Kisaragi grin, she left for Godo's house.

Once there, she was immediately greeted by Staniv's warm smile.

"Lady Kisaragi! Yuffie, I'm so glad you're back!"

Yuffie took a good look at Staniv. He seemed lively, but she could imagine the stress he must be undergoing. The other Gods were missing, and the strongest of them, her father, and the leader of Wutai, is in a coma.

"I heard about what's been going on."

Staniv sighed, and shook his head. "I'm very sorry, Yuffie, that this is the situation you had to come home to." He shook his head again, looking at Yuffie sadly. "You, alone, head out to face the threat of the planet once more, saving the whole planet with your friends. We, your people, couldn't even protect our own homes…"

Yuffie tapped her chin and shook her head at Staniv. "It's a bit too early to say that. We're saving our city right now, right? We haven't failed yet. And trust me; I don't plan on failing, either." Again, she flashed her trademark Kisaragi grin.

Staniv smiled as he could feel the confidence pouring from Yuffie. _'I suppose, this is why this country has always depended upon a true Kisaragi.'_ His brows furrowed as another thought came to him. _'Yuffie… doesn't know about her own family secrets yet… I could tell her what I know, but… it would be better if Godo were to tell her everything at once.'_

"Staniv?" Yuffie waved her hands in front of him, attempting to call him back to reality. She couldn't help but wonder, _'Y'know… this isn't the first time something like this happened.'_ Her mind flashed back to Vincent. _'I wonder if it's me. Gawd, how lame.'_

"Ah, I apologize, Yuffie. I was lost in my thoughts for a while." Staniv shook his head and gestured towards the house. "Would you like to go visit Lord Godo?"

Yuffie nodded and headed inside with Staniv. He led her to Godo's room, opening the door for her and allowing her inside while he, himself, stayed outside, allowing Yuffie her privacy. Once inside, Yuffie immediately noticed the surroundings were different from the last time she'd been here. Although she had only been away from Wutai for a few days due to Geostigma, the reality of it all was that she hadn't been in Godo's room for at least a year. Before that, she had only entered his room to hide from Avalanche when she had stolen their materia previously.

In her eyes, the room looked so worn, like the contents within it haven't been touched in years and have well past the stage of just sitting idly by and attracting dust. Maybe it was just because there was no Godo and his colorful purple clothing to decorate the room, as it was hidden by the comforters which covered him. Yuffie found the situation slightly funny. Godo was never one to be under the covers, he was always sprawled out over them in an awkward position unfitting for the ruler of Wutai.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, as she could only guess this is where she got her rebellious attitude towards their culture from. She walked towards Godo's sleeping figure and plopped down next to him.

"Hey, old man, you just leave Wutai to me, alright? You're so old… you probably need the rest, anyway. So, you just rest, and by the time I get this all under control, you can wake up, see what I've done, and I can laugh at your face at how much better I am than you at doing things, 'kay?" Yuffie let out a small laugh, and reached forward to pat the covers. Jumping up and heading towards the door, she looked back at him once again.

"Sleep well, dad. I'll take care of everything."

--

"Reno… this is…" The black haired leader of the Turks stared in disbelief. Even for a Turk, who should easily turn away from his emotions at the sight of death, this was hard to swallow.

"Yeah, I know… it's sick. Where's 'Lena?"

Tseng shook his head. "I gave her orders to stay at the lodge with the president. She doesn't need to see this anymore than she should have to. She was already badly shaken up when she came to me."

Reno nodded in understanding. "Then… what do we do with these?"

Tseng looked clearly displeased, hesitating before speaking again. "Leave them as they are. We'll examine the bodies that are somewhat intact still and see if there's anything that could tell us something about why this happened."

Reno and Rude nodded silently and began examining the bodies. Tseng looked around the area. Reno, clearly unhappy, had stopped examining in a few moments, deciding that this was clearly an act of insanity and had no reason as to why. Tseng had returned to the two, having found nothing in the surrounding area. Rude, though, had produced different results. Motioning for Tseng and Reno to come over, the silent Turk pointed at the ground beneath the bodies.

"Scratches on the ground… Maybe a message?" Rude looked to Tseng and Reno for their reactions. Tseng moved in and took a closer look.

Having found deep and thin scratches on the ground rather than marks that shown the bodies were dragged into the area, Tseng nodded at Rude. "Yes… you might be right. These are intentional." Tseng then looked uncomfortable, his voice clearly pained as he spoke, "Move the bodies. Lift and carry them, don't drag."

Rude began to do as commanded wordlessly. Reno shook his head and began to work as well, but not before adding his own commentary. "Man, I'm so going to Hell." At this, Rude turned to Reno and raised an eyebrow, though his eyes were still hidden by his sunglasses.

Reno just waved him off. _'Not like it matters. I've been damned to Hell so many times anyway.'_ Rude seemed to understand, and continued to work silently.

By the time the three men were done, Rufus and Elena had arrived, under Rufus's persistence in the matter. Indeed, under the bodies was a message.

Rufus read the message, which was written in Wutainese, "Maiden of Jasmine… just as these children, Wutai will be in shambles. We will destroy Wutai's past and present, as we have done its future."

"Whoa, Mr. President, you can read that?" Reno, obviously sharing Yuffie's lack of attention trait, paid more attention to the fact that Rufus could read Wutainese than the actual message itself.

Tseng, on the other hand, was different. "President, will we be doing anything about this?" Rufus remained silent, thinking of the best course of action.

Reno scratched his head. "Hm… why were the bodies all the way over here near Healin?"

Tseng crossed his arms, thinking of a possible reason. "Probably… in case that Kisaragi girl didn't take the airship back to Wutai. She probably has to cross this area to return to Wutai." Tseng looked off into the forest. "Whoever planned this… obviously knows what he's doing. It's close enough to grab the attention of someone whose mind was already on the situation, but far away enough not to attract any other attention."

Elena was slightly baffled at this. "Sir, you mean to say that Kisaragi knew about this already?"

Tseng shook his head, and explained further. "Not necessarily. If these children were from Wutai, she probably knew they were missing before she came here. Then, since the missing children were on her mind, she would search for them as she headed back and find this scene here, unlike others, who would just continue forward on the main forest path."

"What would make her search THIS area, of all places?"

Reno smirked as he answered. "Really, 'Lena, I thought you were smarter than this, I guess I gave you too much credit. Geostigma, y'know? The Kisaragi girl probably thought the kids from Wutai were on their way here 'cause of Geostigma."

Elena's cheeks puffed up in slight frustration. Tseng nodded at Reno. "That's probably it. I can only imagine… if this is the situation here, then… how many corpses would be placed around Wutai?"

The Turks remained silent at this. They could only imagine how many deaths would be at Wutai currently. Even worse, as ever since the war between Wutai and Shin-Ra, Wutai hadn't repopulated much. Being a country with so many customs and traditions, they couldn't just bring more people into their country, as Shin-Ra had just hired more soldiers to replace the ones they lost. Wutai required time, and that time had never been given to them.

Rufus cleared his throat and, with a flip of his bangs, began heading back to the lodge. "Let's go. We're going to Wutai."

--

Yay, another chapter! I'm very happy that you guys are enjoying this fanfic, probably as much as I enjoy writing it! Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews!

To the reviewers:

**saharasfury**: Yes, it will include some angst. But not to worry, it won't fall completely under it. I don't think I'd be able to last making an all-out angst fic. Thanks for the review!

**ignoredflower**: Yeah, since the Avalanche members mentioned what they were going to do in the near future during the past, I was kind of having trouble deciding which verb tenses to use. Well, I just hope that it wasn't that hard to understand… Thanks for the review!

**Maddy02**: Yes, poor Yuffie… ( I feel bad for her as I write this, and I feel worse knowing what I have planned for her, too. T-T I'm horrible… On another note, thanks for the review.

**Keezz**: I'm glad that you enjoy this so much! Oh, but don't faint just yet, it'd be a little hard to read fanfics if ya pass out, huh? Hehe, thanks for the review!

**chibified kitsunes**: Yuffie does get to mature really fast, that's true. But hm… maturing can't be all:D I'm glad you love it! Thanks for the review!

**Chaotic Rei**: Aw, I'm sorry. -gives you Hi-Potion- Thanks for the gold star, and thanks for the review!

**GirlEnigma**: Lol, I will try my best to update as soon as I can, while not rushing the fic. Sadly, I'm going out of town on the 19th and won't be back until a month later. ( I wonder if I can still update from there… I hope I can. If not, I'll make sure to come back and update, update, update:D

Ah, in case some of the readers skipped the section above…

I'll be going out of town, actually, out of country, for a month on the 19th of June. I will update when I can before I leave, and try to update during the time I'm out of the country. If I can't, I'll be sure to make it up to the readers by updating, updating, and updating, by the time I'm back!

Thanks to everyone for reading!


	4. Ch 4 : Acquired Truce

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. I have this story, s'bout it.

Liminality

Chapter 4: Acquired Truce

--

"With this plum blossom…"

'_This is…'_

"You will know that… I'll always be with you…"

'_But… you're not here now…'_

"And you know that… I always keep my promises…"

'_Because… plum blossoms mean kept promises, right?'_

"Because plum blossoms mean kept promises…"

'_And you are…'_

"And I am Umeko, the child of plum blossoms…"

'_You always… kept your promises…'_

"And you will live a life filled with happiness, with grace and elegance…"

'_Because…'_

"Because jasmines mean happiness… grace… and elegance…"

'_And I am…'_

"And you are Riko, the child of jasmines…"

'_But… my name…'_

"But even more so… you deserve happiness because…"

'_I miss you…'_

"You are… my Yuffie."

'_Mama…'_

--

'_Ugh…'_

Within a bright room against the back wall, a previously unconscious Yuffie Kisaragi slowly opened her eyes. _'What the hell…?'_

Immediately, she was blinded by the sheer brightness of the room she apparently found herself in. Saving the harder thoughts for later, she focused her main complaint: the bright lights. "Gawd… that's bright."

Yuffie allowed some time for her eyes to adjust, and then began to survey the room. It was bleak, having nothing but two chairs and a table. She took note of the door right across from her on the opposite wall. It appeared to be the only method of entering or leaving this room. She took a step forward, but found her legs wouldn't comply. Yuffie then noticed the chains which cuffed her arms and legs to the wall.

Struggling against the chains with what little strength Yuffie could find within herself, she let out a frustrated yell, as she realized that she couldn't pull her way out. She probably couldn't get out even with her strength at its best. Frankly, she felt like shit. "What gives?"

'_What the hell happened…?'_ Yuffie closed her eyes as she began to recall what could've led to her current position. _'Right… there were bodies… everywhere… and I…'_ Yuffie cursed her own lack of judgment, which caused her current, and frankly, quite sad, situation. An Avalanche member who saved the world not once, but twice, caught by some random out of the blue amateur kidnappers that probably wants to trade her for a hefty ransom… _'Sad…'_ Along with a loud cry of anger, she gave the wall behind her a good stomp.

Finding that her voice box was still, apparently, working at its best, she resorted to using said voice box, rather than her depleted strength. "HEY! Whoever can hear me BETTER let me GO! The Great Ninja Yuffie has the power to make your life a $#(&$ HELL if you don't!"

"Ah, Miss Kisaragi, feel free to do just that whenever you feel up to it." A muffled but gruff voice from behind the previously mentioned door answered her call. Within seconds, the metallic door swung open, and in stepped the most disgusting man Yuffie believed she would ever meet in her whole life. As far as she could tell, from her current position, despite his being built, and aside from normal or natural features such as rotten teeth and wrinkles, it seemed as if every vein that was a part of the man's body was threatening to break through his skin. To make matters worse, they glowed and, she guessed, probably reeked of mako. Apparently, Yuffie wasn't in the best of moods, and pleasantry towards strangers that kidnapped her was about the last thing on her mind.

Finally managing to tear her attention away from his physically appalling features, she paid some mind towards whatever words he was spouting. The gruff voice which belonged to him began to register. "I would suggest you don't attempt to bring about any form of 'Hell' to anyone or anything as of yet, Miss Kisaragi, seeing as how you've had enough tranquilizers injected into you to set Meteor to a halt."

'_Woohoo! A bad guy with a sense of humor, just what I needed!'_ Yuffie had to admit, pardoning the humor, that the live human vein pathway exhibit was right, to an extent. Her body did indeed feel like shit, and she doubted that she would have enough strength to be shoving any Conformers up any certain places at this time. _'Ah… where the hell IS my Conformer?'_

Looking around the bleak room, in case she had missed her belongings during her first quick scan, Yuffie could surely say that her equipment was definitely elsewhere. "Hey, vein exhibit, where the hell's my gear?"

Yuffie could've sworn she saw a vein pulsing. Regardless, said vein exhibit opened his mouth to reply. "It doesn't matter, now does it, Miss Kisaragi?" Yuffie could've sworn that there were glowing mako veins within his mouth, as well.

She scoffed; an expression she used commonly against the miniscule things in life which annoyed the living crap out of her. "The hell it doesn't. I need my Conformer to trace the lines all over you."

His face contorted into something Yuffie could barely classify as a smirk. "As I've said, Miss Kisaragi, if you feel up to it, you are most welcome to find and use your weapon however you wish to." He paused to flip a few locks of black hair falling in front of his eyes. "But I've planned a few events for you, and I would appreciate it if you didn't put my hard work to waste."

Yuffie silently wondered if there was a training course of villains. "What _great_ plans do you have planned for me then? I'll have you know, the great Yuffie Kisaragi has _extremely_ high standards."

The man sighed and rubbed his forehead. You could safely say that Yuffie wasn't exactly the easiest hostage to deal with. "I can assure you that these events will not be enjoyable. I will do my best to make it so."

Yuffie, acting like how Yuffie's act, was completely unaffected by what he said, and had blatantly ignored it. "Are you intentionally avoiding your veins or does it just… happen?"

His fists clenched, but he quickly loosened them. There was no doubt that he had an even uglier side of him. "But, that mouth of yours will definitely be a nuisance during the process, Miss Kisaragi."

Yuffie flashed a grin towards the stranger. "I'm glad I could be of service, jackass."

With another sigh, the man walked up to Yuffie, staring intently at her, as if attempting to challenge her. Yuffie was unaffected by his gaze, but felt herself unconsciously pushing her body closer against the wall, as if every part of her body seemed to want to get further away from him as possible. As nerve-wracking as his distance was, Yuffie used their current position to her advantage, and spat in his face. The stranger jumped back in both surprise and avoidance towards any more attacks. With the anger and irritation apparent on his face, Yuffie broke out in laughter. Not exactly the smartest thing to do in such a situation where she was the captive.

"Hahahah… it's a nice expression on ya!" Yuffie was sure that if she could move her hands, she would be pointing at him. Within moments, her laughter was stopped short as her capturer wrapped his hand around her neck.

"Miss Kisaragi… you don't seem to realize the situation you're in…" He tightened the grip he held upon her neck. Yuffie found it hard to breath, and her voice was having trouble projecting normally. Of course, it'll take a lot more than this to stop the mouth of Yuffie Kisaragi.

Despite her position, she flashed a grin at him. "That spit… is starting to… look real good… on you." With a little bit of force on her voice box, she managed to speak in a clear tone. The hand which gripped her neck released and her capturer took a few steps back.

An awkward chuckle erupted from his throat. "How could I have forgotten…" Shaking his head, he spoke in a reprimanding tone. "The bravery in which all Kisaragi's are known for… No wonder why you are not affected by your situation."

Yuffie snorted at this. _'Man, he OBVIOUSLY doesn't know Godo.'_ She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the compliment and all, but not all Kisaragi's are like this."

The man suddenly broke out in loud laughter. "So, you don't know yet, huh?" He paused, followed by another loud laugh. "I guess we got to Godo a little too fast!"

With another laugh, he headed out the room. Yuffie shouted after him. "Hey! If you're not gonna explain what you mean, then at least LET ME GO!" But, she received no reply, and with a short wave, he was out the door.

"The next time I return, Miss Kisaragi, I'll make you regret things you've never thought of regretting before."

--

Around the surrounding fields of Wutai, a helicopter circled around the area a few times before making a graceful landing on the grassy fields. Slowly, the propeller of the helicopter began to stop. Once stopped, and the surrounding area had stilled, its occupants began to filter out. First was Tseng, followed by Rude, Elena, Reno, and finally, Rufus Shinra. Each of them straightened out their suits, or in Reno's case, ruffled his suit, and headed for the gates of Wutai.

Once there, they were stopped by two guards. Coincidentally, the ones that were previously on the receiving end of a certain Wutainese princess's anger. Tseng stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking. "Excuse me, we're here to see Yuffie Kisaragi. I believe she is the princess of Wutai. We have urgent business with her, so please allow us through."

The left guard answered. "I recognize those suits. You're Turks, part of Shin-Ra. You think we'll just let you through?"

Reno stepped forward, challenging the guard, daring him to do something. "Yo, you've let us through before. Plus, we're the princess's friends, let us see the girl."

This time, the guard on the right answered, just in case the other guard was affected by Reno. "Right, like as if the Lady would ever become friends with Shin-Ra scum!" His voice dripped with venom.

Despite their obvious disadvantage in battle, the two held firm ground against the Turks. Thus, the Turks were put in an awkward situation. On one hand, they HAD to discuss the situation personally with Yuffie, so as to avoid causing a disturbance. At the same time, they couldn't force their way through, as doing so would also create a disturbance. The two sides shared a pregnant silence. Rufus Shinra stepped out from behind the Turks and broke it. The two guards immediately tensed in surprise. Simultaneously, the two called out.

"Rufus Shinra!"

Not one for respect, Rufus completely disregarded their outburst. With a flip of his blond bangs, he walked right past them and into Wutai. "Shin-Ra is already non-existent. What you see in front of you is just a group of people wishing to return their debts."

Clearly not understanding, the two guards stepped in front of Rufus with their weapons held towards him. "You cannot enter Wutai!"

The Turks immediately rushed forward, protecting the president being top priority, but Rufus stuck out a hand to stop them. "Is there something wrong?" Rufus calmly addressed them despite his situation. Having had plenty of experience along with natural talent, staying calm was just about as easy for him as breathing, apparently.

"Lady Kisaragi isn't within Wutai. Please leave."

"Right, the princess just happens to not be in Wutai when we're here for her. Is that how it goes?" The sarcasm rang true in Reno's words. Reno's electro-rod, on the other hand, pointed dangerously at the guard's face.

Irregardless, with bravery worth crediting, the two did not waver. "Lady Kisaragi is running some errands for Lord Godo. Leave us in peace."

Reno was getting ticked. "Look man-…"

"Is there a problem here?"

Heads turned towards the direction of the interruption. Recognizing the intruder, one of the guards ran forward and bowed. "Staniv, sir! Rufus Shinra and his Turks are here!"

The guard which held his position in front of the ex-Shin-Ra employees stood baffled as Staniv stepped towards them and surprisingly, led them within Wutai. "Please, follow me." The Turks were silently led towards the pagoda.

--

Somewhere within a cave on top of a waterfall, the ringing of a cell phone could be heard.

"Yes?"

A slight pause and some muffled speaking.

"I'll be on my way soon. Expect me in two weeks."

Another pause and then a click.

"… It's that time already…" With a sigh, Vincent Valentine stood up and headed to the entrance of the cave designated as Lucrecia's. With a satisfied grunt after double-checking that he had all of his belongings, which merely consisted of the clothes on him, his cloak, and his gun, he left towards the direction of Edge.

--

Up on the fourth floor of the pagoda, Staniv, the Turks, and Rufus gathered in a small semi-circle. Staniv looked at each of them carefully, attempting to read the masked expressions on their faces. He cleared his throat.

"So… you are here for Yuffie?"

Tseng decided to answer him. "We only wish to speak with her."

"In regards to…?"

The Turks turned and looked at each other, and then each nodded their heads in a silent agreement. Tseng took a step forward, and all heads turned to him. "We discovered… corpses near Healin. They were children, and I believe they were Wutainese." Staniv visibly tensed. Tseng took note of this and continued. "There was also a message."

"The children…" Staniv spoke in a quiet murmur. The Turks almost couldn't hear him. Shaking his head clear, he beckoned Tseng to continue. "What did the message say?"

"It said…" Staniv turned to Rufus, who had answered him instead. "…Maiden of jasmine… just as these children, Wutai will be in shambles. We will destroy Wutai's past and present, as we have done its future." Rufus's voice was cold, his stature was straight and unmoving. Staniv, on the other hand, felt his knees buckling, and stumbled backwards.

Staniv caught himself before he fell. "Oh… Leviathan…"

Elena waited for Staniv to gather himself. "We've done some research and have some information we would like to share with Miss Kisaragi. Please allow us to see her."

Staniv shook his head, slightly not over the impact of the news, and, in disagreement. "You… cannot see her."

Reno had just about enough of their situation. "Oi! What the hell!"

Staniv quickly interjected before Reno's head literally set on fire. "Don't misunderstand." He allowed Reno to back down before continuing. "It's not that you may not see her, but you really cannot. She is not in Wutai."

Reno scratched his head and looked at Rude, who shrugged. Rufus disregarded the slight roadblock, and shrugged as if it was the most obvious answer. "Then let us see your Lord."

"…" Wordlessly, Staniv left the pagoda and led them to Godo's house.

Outside of Godo's room, Staniv stood to the side to allow them passage. The Turks took a look inside. Within a few seconds, they stepped to the side, silent, and allowed Rufus to take a look. Rufus stepped back and turned to Staniv. "Where is Miss Kisaragi?" The topic of Godo was immediately dropped, having now understood the situation.

Staniv, again, shook his head in refusal. "I cannot say."

Rufus sighed in slight annoyance. Honestly, he disliked how idiotic this man thought he and his Turks were. "How long has she been gone to search or the children?"

Staniv blinked a few times in surprise. With a smirk, he could only shake his head and answer. "As expected from Shin-Ra. If you were all that idiotic, we would have won the war." With a slight pause to sigh, he continued. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Honestly, I was about to contact Avalanche for help if she didn't come back in a few days time, anyway." Another sigh. "Miss Yuffie has been gone for two weeks already. I suspect that she has been captured by the enemy. The message you delivered only serves to prove it."

Rufus raised an eyebrow at this. "What makes you assume she's been captured?"

"Within that message, there were rather important things to take note of. It mentioned Wutai's past, present, and future. From the message and the children you saw, you could probably tell that Wutai's future is its children." Staniv paused to take a look for their reactions. "What do you think its past and present are?"

Rude merely shrugged. Reno stayed silent. Figuring the two probably weren't good with this type of thing, Elena took a guess. "Godo is the past… and Yuffie is the present?"

Tseng shook his head. "No… if they meant Godo, then they wouldn't have only mentioned the destruction of Wutai's future." Elena nodded shyly, a blush spreading across her face in embarrassment.

"Y-Yes, you're right sir. I didn't think things through before answering."

With a sigh, Tseng shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Elena. You don't have to berate yourself for it."

She bowed her head. "S-Sir…"

Rufus cut in before the topic went too offhand. Honestly, Rufus wondered how the Turks often got the job done. "Reno. Tell him the answer."

Reno blinked, and pointed at himself. An obvious 'why me?' question played at mind. Rufus seemed to pick it up.

With a shrug, he answered his thoughts. "You're always giving out questions to guess. I just assumed you were good at guessing, too. Besides," he looked at Rude, "that one doesn't say much anyway."

Reno shrugged. The answer was satisfactory, so Reno gave a satisfactory guess. "The princess is the past and the present is the current Wutai itself, people included."

Staniv's expression definitely said shocked and surprised. Feeling as if the Turks would never cease to amaze him, he replied an awaiting Reno. "Y-You're right."

Elena could feel her jaw drop. Reno grinned. Staniv shook his head in disbelief. "How did you know?"

Reno shrugged. "Don't know, man. The princess's always talking about making Wutai like how it used to be or whatever. Thought it might've been her. And, y'know, Wutai's kinda obvious." Reno was apparently smarter than he led on to be.

Staniv, yet again, shook his head. You'd wonder if his head was screwed on too loosely. Regardless, his voice took on a serious tone as he relayed to them more specifically why. "You are absolutely right. Wutai has been trying to make its way to its past self. Miss Yuffie is the living embodiment of how Wutai had been in the past. Without Miss Yuffie, Wutai will not have a model to shape itself after. Without Wutai itself, there will be no model to shape. Without the children, Wutai cannot last through the time it will take to shape itself."

Staniv took a break from speaking, giving the Turks and Rufus some time to process the information. Rufus moved his bangs back. "I see. This is why you feel that Miss Kisaragi has been taken in captivity."

Staniv nodded in confirmation. "Yes, sometimes, the easiest way to completely destroy something is to remove its past and its future. Without those, the present means nothing."

Rufus's sharp eyes stared into Staniv's. _'There is something he's not telling us…'_ Rufus felt it necessary to know everything. "And the rest?"

Staniv was speechless. With a look of desperation on his face, he could only plead for their understanding. "There are things which I absolutely cannot say without confirmation from Lord Godo or Miss Yuffie. Please understand."

The Turks and Rufus said nothing, but had, at least, understood his position. The six of them stood there silently, unmoving. Staniv looked uncomfortable, feeling as if he was to betray Wutai by interacting with these people. _'I'm sorry, Miss Yuffie…'_ Staniv kneeled on the ground and bowed so that his head touched the wooden floors. His hands were flat against the ground, supporting his posture. The Turks were shocked, never having thought that a Wutaian would ever bow their head towards anyone with even slightly anything to do with Shin-Ra. Rufus's brows furrowed. He wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. He motioned for Rude to get the man up.

Before Rude could, however, Staniv looked up directly at Rufus, his eyes baring a request. "Rufus Shinra! Please, along with your Turks, assist Wutai! Please, help us find and recover our past! Help us find our Yuffie!"

Rufus didn't reply. Instead, he once again motioned for Rude to pick the man up. This time, Staniv allowed the dark man to help him up. Having received no answer, Staniv stared intently at Rufus, as if his whole life depended on the answer. It no doubt did, having already bowed his head towards Wutai's most hated group of people, he was bound to be exiled or sent off the cliffs of Da Chao.

Rufus let out a sigh. "If we weren't planning on assisting Wutai, we wouldn't have come."

Staniv looked overjoyed. He bowed his head to show his gratitude, much to Rufus's displeasure. With a grin, Reno stepped up to Staniv, and set a hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, give us a week. The Turks will bring back your princess for ya, for sure."

--

Wow, hey everyone! I realize that the update didn't really come as fast as the others, but hey, I'm in Taiwan now! I finally got to a computer, and started to type, type, type away at what I've written before I could reach one. Sorry of the lack of content in this chapter and the last. At first, I just felt I didn't want things to happen too fast, but now it feels like I'm dragging the story on. Hm… well, I hope it gets better, but it's kind of hard to get into the mood for story-writing in the environment that I'm in now. Well, please don't lose faith in this story; I'm still trying my best!

On another note: The keyboard I'm using has a bad 'F' key, so if you see any missing F's anywhere where there should be F's, please let me know! I've triple-checked it, but I still might've missed a few words here and there. Please and thank you!

To the reviewers:

**chibified kitsunes**: Thanks for the review! About your idea… hm… it's a nice thought. I suppose it'd work, but there'd be a lot of changes I'd have to make to make it fit. Well, we'll see how it goes! That'd definitely be an interesting thing to add into the story, though. Hm… what made you choose Tseng for it?

**saharasfury**: Keep in mind that some chapters will still be angsty to some extent, though! ' Hope it won't bother ya too much! Thanks for the review!

**Paine Sawyer**: That's such a flattering comment, thank you very much! But there are DEFINITELY lots of other fanfics out there that are sooo much better! I'm very glad that you found it suspenseful! Thanks for the review!

**Maddy02**: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you love this story! I love anything Yuffie-centric, too!

Thanks to everyone for reading!


	5. Greetings to the Readers!

Greetings readers! Yes, I AM still alive, amazingly enough. I sincerely apologize for my long absence. Shortly upon returning from Taiwan, college classes started for me, and I also got a job. Though I'm sad to admit it, this story slipped through my mind without my realizing. The moment I thought of this story again, though, I'd realized that I don't have enough time to regularly post chapters, and I had considered dropping this story.

Midterms for my classes are coming up, and due to that I've taken a few days off from my job, so I have a little free time. I've finished studying (Yay me!), and decided that I should take responsibility for this story and its readers and at least let you all know what's going on.

I am still planning on continuing this story. There's no doubt about that. The only problem is, as I attempted to at least offer another chapter during my free time, I read over the previous chapters and found that my method of writing has changed compared to how it was in the beginning of the story. That and many things were happening at the same time, making the story seem rather disorganized. I also realized I had a tendency of changing tenses and also, showing the plotline through flashbacks and the majority through dialogue, which is also rather confusing. I was planning on continuing on with the story the way it is, and slowly correcting my writing style and various other transition issues as I posted new chapters, but I don't seem to be able to do that, as there seriously has been too long of a pause in between the last chapter and now. Currently, I'm extremely displeased with the first few chapters, and I hope to change that before I continue on with the story. So I will either be re-uploading the edited chapters from 1-4 then continuing on with chapter 5 and onward, or I'll be deleting this story and just starting anew. The plot will remain the same, though I'm currently proofreading my notes to make sure everything makes sense now that I haven't looked at it in over half a year.

Again, I apologize for this decision. The only thing I can do to make it up to the readers is to offer this story, again, edited, cleaned up, and of course, this time, eventually finished. And, I'm extremely sorry that this update wasn't a chapter. I promise that the next update will contain a new chapter!


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